Silhouette love

Hi there, Glenda here and today I would love to share some silhouette love! What I love about using silhouette stamps is that you can make such pretty backgrounds and let the gorgeous silhouette take center stage.  I made 3 different ATC's using the fabulous Viva Las VegaStamps!.  This first one is called "cherish" using the lovers kissing in boat stamps as well as the flying bird trio.

What I did was stamp the lovers kissing in boat stamp onto some white cardstock  that I had cut to ATC size.

Then I got out my handy dandy watercolor pencils and colored in the water and started in on the sky

and kept coloring using colors I thought would make a nice sunset background.

Then I blended in the watercolors

and then I mounted the card onto some black cardstock so it would pop more, added the flying bird trio, some gold stars and the word cherish.

The next card is called "Abu Dhabi 2015" in tribute to my recent trip to the Middle East. It was amazing!!!!

I stamped the Moroccan scene onto some white cardstock

and since my ink smudged all inside the stamped image I decided to cut that inside area out like shown below.  I also used my watercolor pencils to color in the sand.

Then on the smaller piece of white cardstock I misted it with some blue and orange inks

and the I glued the pieces together and also used the fabulous flying bird trio stamp again and added my words that I printed off from the computer and here is my finished ATC.

My last ATC is called "seek paradise" and it's another tribute to my trip to the Middle East using the fabulous camel and rider stamp as well as the seek paradise stamp along with some rub ons, clear tape and stickers.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my ATC's and as always I would love to know which one was your favorite!  I hope I've also inspired you to use some silhouette stamps as they are sooo fun!! I will leave you with a picture taken last month from my trip Abu Dhabi & Dubai!  This is me on a camel ride!!

 You can stop by my blog to see more pictures from my Middle East vacation here. Have a fabulous day!!

If Camels Had Wishes

If Camels Had Wishes...Everyone Would Ride Horses!

I really love this image of a camel's head  from Viva Las VegaStamps!  I've had it for the longest time, but I wasn't sure what he was doing.  Yodeling? Blowing bubbles?  And then I saw the Dandelion stamp and I realized he was making a wish!

Supplies:
VLVS! Images Used--

Camel Head Item 12753 Plate 1140
Camel Item 4995 Plate 493
Camel Running Right Item 1722 Plate 457
Camel Silhouette Item 1766 Plate 457
Blowing Dandelion and Extra Seed by Susan M. Brown Item 19045 Plate 918

Sakura of America Gellyroll-Gold Red Stardust
Faber-Castell ArtGrip Color Pencil-107, 125, 133
Distress Markers-Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen, Picket Fence, Crushed Olive, Walnut Stain
Distress Ink pad-Walnut Stain
Exacompta Journal Forum

The challenge with this project was the slope of the pages in the journal.  It's a thick one and impossible to lie completely flat.  I used unmounted stamps and didn't use a stamping block for the images that fell in the crease between the two pages, so the stamps were more flexible.  I practiced a bit on other pages, curving the stamps juuuust a little before touching the page.  White space was inevitable in the crease itself, but it wasn't much, and was easily filled in using the walnut stain marker that matches the inkpad.

I penciled in the words first to be sure they would fit, and then filled them in with Distress Marker.  I outlined them with Gellyroll pens.

Then it was just a matter of coloring the background with the Distress Markers.  I colored the dark areas first, stippling and making rough circles and dots for texture.  Then I used the lighter colors blending them into the darker.  I dotted the white Picket Fence to tone down some of the colors that I felt were too bright and to add more mottling in other areas.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you've enjoyed my art journaling page.

Have you entered Viva Las VegaStamps! August challenge? It's great fun and a chance to share your projects with the world!

A Walk Down Memory Lane for the 4th of July

Have you ever come across something that brings back memories from your childhood?

For years my father had one of those free promotional calendars posted on his workshop cork board.  It was open to a 4th of July spread, and he never flipped the pages, presumably because he referenced the phone numbers or notes that had been scrawled on the page.  Or he just got so used to the calendar being there, he didn't even see it anymore.

When I found this fabulous Eagle and Flag stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps! I immediately flashed back to that calendar.  The details of the page were fuzzy, but the image of my father, standing in the garage, sorting his tools was very strong.  Dad's been gone some 30 years now, and I cherish every memory of him. I decided to recreate the calendar as closely as I could . 

VLVS! Stamps Used: 

Eagle And Flag

Other Supplies:
Kromecote A2 Cardstock
Miracle Tape
Molding Paste
Clairefontaine Cold Pressed 300 lb Watercolor Paper
Faber-Castell Gelatos-Red, White & Blue
Star-shaped Punchinella
StazOn Jet Black Inkpad
Distress Inkpads-Old Paper, Tea Dye
Marvy Brush Marker-Navy Blue
AD Marker Bleu Cobalt
Brush, water and Scissors
2B Pencil

I started by stamping my eagle image on Kromecote paper with StazOn and cutting it out, rounding off the corners.  I ran the Tea Dye distress pad over the surface to age it.

Setting the eagle aside, I  lightly traced the punchinella circles and measured off the stripes onto the watercolor paper.  I dipped my gelatos in water and painted the circles blue, and the alternate stripes in red.  I remembered those circles on that calender, but couldn't for the life of me remember what was in them.  I  finally decided to add stars.

I cut my circles from a strip of punchinella stars (you can buy it at Gauche Alchemy), and held each one down, firmly, with one hand while I used a finger from my other hand to cover the circle with molding paste.  I gave it a few seconds to set, just a little, and pulled the punchinella away.  I repeated this for each blue circle, and then did the same thing in random spots over the page.

Miracle tape was used to adhere the eagle to the page, and I used the Old Paper and Tea Dye around the edges of the watercolor paper to distress it.  Something still seemed missing, and I remembered there were lines of some kind on my calendar page.  I also needed something to tie the eagle into the layout, so I added the lines with Marvy and AD Marker.   I ran the Navy Blue marker around the edges as well and scribbled in some fake phone numbers (we were a Mohawk 5 phone number in those days), and a few notes in pencil.

Overall, I'm very happy with this piece--it brings back lovely memories each time I look at it.  The plan is to add matting, and a year-at-a-glance calender at the bottom.  Then I'll put it up in the garage, and I'll celebrate the 4th of July with my father for years to come.

For more of my work with Viva Las VegaStamps!, Amazing Mold Putty, zentangle-inspired art, and daily links to tangles, tutorials, and giveaways please visit my "Life Imitates Doodles" blog.   ~ Sandra Strait

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